How's it goin'? David here - a full time homosexual type who's a bit keen on travel. On December 31st 2012, I flew to Bangkok to kick off a massive travel adventure. Expect posts about hot locals, dodgy gay bars, and how the humidity is messin' with my hair. Currently in Mexico.

Is it possible to be vegan in Mexico?

Hands up, I am not a vegan myself, but for one reason or another, recently I got to thinking about how possible it would be to live with a vegan diet in Mexico. Of course, it’s not impossible to do so anywhere that you go, but it is certainly easier in some places than others. Mexicans have a reputation for their meat filled tacos and quesadillas filled with cheese, so just how easy is it to be a vegan in Mexico?

Actually, I don’t think it’s that hard at all – not only are there vegan options that taste great, but these vegan foods are also typically Mexican so you get the experience of eating local foods that you wouldn’t normally consume at home. Here are a few foods to indulge in if you are committed to or attempting a vegan diet in Mexico but are not exactly sure what to purchase at the market or at your nearest street food stand.

Huitlachoche

Yaaass, huitlachoche! I love this stuff, but it’s hard to describe it without it sounding totally revolting. Essentially, huitlacoche is a fungus that grows on corn. Yum. If you walk around any local market you are likely to see this blue fungus on corn cobs or cut off and sold just as the fungus. It has an earthy, mushroomy taste and it can be considered the Mexican truffle. If you are lucky, you might find street vendors who serve huitlacoche in a quesadilla (weirdly, quesadillas don’t come with cheese as standard in most places but just ask for it “sin queso” to be sure) – a tasty street food snack.

Nopales

Something that you will see everywhere you travel in Mexico is the cactus plant. But cacti are not just pretty to look at, they are also a popular food. I am not so keen on the texture of cooked nopales, which is a little on the slimy side for my liking, but when sautéed with onions, I have happily gobbled them down. In Mexico City, one of the most popular street foods are tlacoyos – eye shaped thick tortillas (often made with blue corn), which are topped with nopales and queso as standard. Of course, a vegan can ask for it without the cheese for a vegan street side treat.

Flor de Calabaza

Courgette flowers are something super posh and something expensive back in the UK, but in Mexico, people eat courgette flowers with gay abandon. Now, in truth these are often served with cheese. I once had a killer flor de calabaza stuffed with ricotta, which was then deep fried and smothered in salsa verde. And you often find flor de calabaza and quesillo quesadillas on the streets, but again, all you have to do is ask for that quesadilla without the cheese and you have a steaming tortilla filled with pretty courgette flowers.

Tacos Dorados

Okay, what about when you go to a typical Mexican fonda or small restaurant? What can a vegan eat then? I always think that a good choice is tacos dorados. Tacos dorados are rolled up tortillas with some kind of filling inside, which are then deep fried. These can be filled with chicken, pork, and most places offer potato as a filling. Be sure to mention to your waiter what you don’t want it served with cream and cheese on top (as is often the case) and instead smother it in salsa roja or salsa verde. A great, filling lunch.

Avocados

The avocados here are out of this world. They are not quite as bargain basement cheap as you might expect, but they are still at least a quarter of the price of avocados in the UK, and they are much bigger and taste much better. Slice avocado inside a quesadilla to give it a bit of substance, and of course make guacamole until you are so sick of it that you can’t possibly eat another bite. For me, that time has never come.

Nieves

While vegans are cut off from the world of ice cream made with dairy products, the good news is that in Mexico, people consume just as many water based ice creams as dairy based ice creams. When you are by the beach, there is nothing quite like indulging in a cup full of mango or even tequila flavoured icy deliciousness.

Plenty of options and plenty of yums! If you are a vegan worrying about what you could possibly shove inside your gob on a trip to Mexico, worry not because you can actually shove tonnes of tasty stuff into your mouth, day in, day out. Hip hip hooray.

15 comments

Loved that you felt the desire to try and figure out what was good for vegans to eat in Mexico. In actually reminds me that our friend Justin of The Lotus and The Artichoke is putting together a vegan travel cookbook, solely on Mexican dishes from his time there over Christmas.

Yum! So glad to hear there are so many typically Mexican vegan options. I cannot imagine ever becoming sick of avocados, either. When we were in Chile last year during summer, I was amazed to see that you could buy a kilo of them for the price of what one would cost in Europe. Bloody amazing. They’ve never tasted the same since

[…] to make matters worse, having recently read about all of the other great vegan options for people in Mexico as so well covered by David of That Gay Backpacker, I’m more keen than ever to try more […]

Although it is easy to avoid visible pieces of meat and cheese, I believe that the cooked sauces usually contain broth of chicken or pork, and the beans often contain pork fat. I can eat meat, but my husband, who has not eaten it in over 25 years gets very ill upon eating it. Even if it is only broth in a sauce. It has been a problem.

Also, for me, the thing I would want most would be my own kitchen not too far from a market. That produce looked amazing. The things I could do with it! I am not sure how easy it would be to get myself a kitchen, but that is what I would want. I am very much in love with Mexican cuisine… to the point that I make my own nixtamal and tortillas. There, I would not bother, which would free me up to do much more in the kitchen, and which I could make vegan. My husband has many life-threatening food allergies (pepitas and pea nuts being the worst), but I can cook around them. So far (and based on your postings), I liked Oaxaca best. To have a life there would be good.

No oven would not be great hindrance. I would want at least three burners. Most of what I had in mind could require stewing, steaming, and frying… and some things need to cooking at all, just a cutting board and a sharp knife.

Great photos.

That Gay Backpacker says:

Jan 6, 2015

In my studio flat, there were only two rings. In this new shared flat that I am in there are 6 rings and an oven – so I guess you can find whatever you need.